3 - eurochemvisit welcome to eurochem agro, mr. mayor! on january 21st, the mayor of the city of...

EUROCHEM INTERNATIONAL DIGEST

June 2013№ 3 Digest

p. 5

Welcome to EuroChem Agro, Mr. Mayor!

On January 21st, the Mayor of the city of Mannheim, Dr. Peter Kurz, took up Rudolf Graf von Plettenberg’s invitation and, together with six mayor colleagues and heads of department, paid a visit to EuroChem Agro head-quarters.

p. 6

A picture of hope for HopeOne of the photogra-phers that took part inour environmental photocontest shared the curiousstory of his picture.

p. 7

Junior ice hockey teams from Finland, Belgium and Russia met on ice for the international tournament that was held in Yubileiny Ice Arena in Novomoskovsk on March 30.

1st International Ice Hockey Tournament:

Where The Challenge Begins!

p. 8

Family Day at EuroChem AntwerpenThe last weekend of April was an important milestone for the employees of the Antwerp EuroChem plant.

TogeTher

Moscow CallingFrom now on, every EuroChem employee can easily contact their colleagues abroad.Integration of the company’s over-seas offices into an internal phone network was performed in two stag-es. In 2008, offices in Zug (Switzer-land) and Tampa, Florida (USA) were connected to the unified corporate network. Further on, the Company newcomers, EuroChem Antwerpen (Antwerp, Belgium) and EuroChem Agro (Mannheim, Germany) got linked to the internal phone network as well.“Now it is much easier to communi-cate with our colleagues in Europe and the USA,” said Dmitry Sidorov, IT Department Chief Specialist. “Some time ago we had to use long phone numbers comprising twelve or fifteen digits, and now the in-ternal network includes easy-to-re-member five-digit numbers.” In addition to a more convenient and better communication quality

between employees, this techno-logical solution has also an eco-nomic benefit for EuroChem, as calls within the network are free. Negotiations with foreign repre-sentative offices are not seldom. In the past, they were conducted through the public phone net-work and were rather expensive and now the company saves a lot on communication services. “Every employee that has an ac-cess to the corporate phone net-work can contact any office of the Company regardless of the loca-tion by dialling merely five dig-its – this was the objective of the integration in the network of for-eign representative offices, and it was fulfilled,” emphasized Dmitry Sidorov. The IT Department’s plans for the nearest future include connecting a number of the Mannheim’s repre-sentative offices in other countries to the internal network.

Ann Proost, HR-department EuroChem Antwerpen


Digest2 № 3June 2013

Profile

Introducing EuroChem Agro Iberia S.L.At thE hEAd of EuroChem Agro Iberia is divisional director Alberto Pueyo. He and his team of 15 bring many years of expertise in the distribution of nitrogen-based fertilizers, which are used in Spanish and Portu-guese agriculture for the cultivation of a variety of crop. The team’s extensive experience across the agriculture landscape in both countries, which also includes special knowledge about soil and nutrients for individual crop types, made them trusted partners to the farming com-munity. Adding to their success is the excellent reputation enjoyed by the Nitrophoska and ENTEC product ranges throughout Spain and Portugal.

In addition to Nitrophoska and ENTEC, standard fertilizers such as CAN, ASN and AS are available. Whereas standard fertilizers are especially used for cultivating large quantities of arable crops such as wheat, corn and sugar beets, Nitro-phoska and ENTEC are used for specialty crops such as olives, fruit, vegetables and wine grape. “Our broad product port-folio allows us to satisfy of broad range of agricultural appli-cations and requirements.” commented Alberto Pueyo.

When asked about EuroChem’s Spanish customers, Sales Director Cesar Vanaclocha said: “The name of the company might be new to our clients, which are mainly privates or cooperatives, but our products are the most popular. Ni-trophoska is the best known nitrogenous fertilizer in Spain and Portugal. ENTEC has also become a household name for almost all customers. Both groups of fertilizer are per-ceived as high-performance products which set the stand-ards in terms of quality – and that is something both we and our customers value”.

From left to right, upper row: Mercedes López (customer service), Jaume Bernis (Sales Rep.), Guillermo Morales (Sales Rep.), César Vanaclocha (Head of sales), Miguel González (Sales Rep.); bottom row: Daniel Llacer (Supply Chain), Mario Ferrández (Sales Rep.), Israel Carrasco (Marketing), Rosa Gimenez (administration), Joao Palha (Marketing), Alberto Pueyo (Managing Director), Xavi Noms (administration) and Zarema Farnieva (customer service)

Miguel González (sales rep. North-western Spain) talking to customers during the annual ENTEC field days in Castilla y León region.

The team from Barcelona is promoting in particular the Nitrophoska and ENTEC products. “We not only advise at the commercial level but also with application consult-ants, who promote our products to end-users. As well, our sales team will also visit end-users in order to provide firsthand advice on application patterns for various cul-tures”, explained Pueyo.


Digest� № 3June 2013

inTerview

We Are EuroChem Antwerpen!ChrIs LEEstEmAkEr, rudI VAnrEusEL And mArC AugustEyns – three shift leaders from different units shared their at-titudes and contemplations. these men are in charge of the processes which run 24/7: not only from the operational aspect, but also with a fine sense of human touch.

Chris: “Most of the internal logistics is done here. We are responsible for the raw material discharging and its trans-fer to the next production level. At the end of the process we export the fertiliz-ers from the warehouses to the loading installations and load the end products into all kinds of vehicles: ships, lorries and train containers. Therefore, we are

the Alpha and the Omega of the pro-duction.” The other two have to grin: “that is his favorite saying!” rudi: “Knowing the process is one thing, leading people working on it is another. For example, you have to make a long way to get all the granulation unit insights: at least 2 years to master the installation, 4 more years to be able to fix any appear-

ing problem and plus 2 years to coordi-nate the work from the control-room.” Chris: “So learn to walk before you run! That’s what we keep on saying to our youngsters who like to go fast and sometimes oversee crucial things”. marc: “Very true! You have to be patient but also open for new ideas that come with the experience of those who come from other companies. Training on the job and job rotation make it possible to replace each other at any moment and to learn from each other.” rudi: “Generally speaking, our main priority is the responsibility of each and every one, no job protection and maximum knowledge transfer. We are very happy to be part of EuroChem as its core business.” Chris: “EuroChem has brought in “the Antwerp diamond of fertilizer“. I am sure this acquisition will contribute to an even greater global presence of this company.” marc: “And if you compare it to a family, we feel that EuroChem Group is a very good and caring parent. We are glad to belong to this new family and we’ll do our best to contribute to our common success.”

Marc Augusteyns

Chris Leestemaker

Rudi Vanreusel



visiT

Welcome to EuroChem Agro, Mr. Mayor!on JAnuAry 21st, the mayor of the city of mannheim, dr. Peter kurz, took up rudolf graf von Plettenberg’s invitation and, to-gether with six mayor colleagues and heads of department, paid a visit to EuroChem Agro head-quarters. Following a brief overview of the company by Rudolf von Pletten-berg, Thorsten Wendt and Wolf-gang Jung, Simone Krauth pre-sented the numerous CSR activities going on at EuroChem Agro. No need to say, the guests were rather impressed by the list of projects which includes support to a chil-dren’s home, food, sponsorship programs for Mannheim schools, a music project in a retirement home as well as job training for disadvan-taged young people. These are just some of the pressing concerns of the Mannheim CSR team. Heike Eikelmann and Jürgen Wet-zel went on to present some of the activities from the field of Corpo-rate Health Management. Amongst other things, the company offers its employees a well-equipped gym,

sports and exercise courses, regu-lar medical check-ups as well as participation in Mannheim’s major sporting events. “We will be able to learn a lot from these examples” assured Mayor Dr. Kurz with regard to the planned expansion of the city administration’s own health management plans. What can we learn from each oth-er? How can we support each oth-er? These are some of the ques-tions put forth by Mannheim’s mayor and his delegation on their monthly visits to companies. The city of Mannheim would like to distinguish itself as an attractive location for professionals and is working with local companies accordingly. When asked about the scope for improvement on the part of the city, the answer was quite clear: “For businesses, it is important that employees are able to generally find good condi-tions. Especially for families with children, there is certainly still a need to improve care facilities”, said Rudolf von Plettenberg with conviction.

From left to right: Mayor Lothar Quast (transport, building, sports), Herbert Bangert (Consultant of the Mayor of the city), Mayor Christian Specht (finance, public safety order), Dr. Wolfgang Miodek (department of economic development), Jürgen Wetzel (EuroChem Agro Supply Chain Management), Simone Krauth (EuroChem Agro Supply Chain Management), Mayor of the city of Mannheim Dr. Peter Kurz, Rudolph Graf von Plettenberg (CEO EuroChem Agro), Günter Heinisch (departement of economic development), Thorsten Wendt (Marketing Director EuroChem Agro).



social

A picture of hope for HopeonE oF thE photogra-phers that took part in our environmental photo contest shared the curious story of his picture.Wilfried Werner, a retired head of health, social and youth affairs department (district authorities Sach-sen-Anhalt, Germany), ex-president of the local Ro-tary Club:“Our Rotary Club runs many social projects. Last year we organized a charity concert to raise a fund for paying a

teacher for Maasai children in Tanzania. A student from Uganda also took part in this concert. She studies social sciences at the local universi-ty. Her name is Hope Nabuke-nya. She has a wonderful voice and has thrilled the au-dience with her songs. Hope has to finance her studies on her own, and that’s quite chal-lenging. As I heard that the photo with the most votes would be rewarded, I report-ed it to our Rotary Club. Oth-er clubs in Germany spread

this news too and took part in the voting. My siblings and numerous nieces and neph-ews informed their friends and it was a real snowball ef-fect – more and more people informed me that they would vote for the photo in order to support Hope. Relatives and friends from Sweden voted for my photo. It was even known in the local hospital and in a specialized school for deaf. They all spread the news via Facebook. As I told Hope about it, she was very moved and wrote her friends and relatives about this. So even people from Africa vot-ed. Friends from Israel heard about it, and wrote that they also wanted to support this voting, and they spread it via Facebook. Students and professors of the university where Hope studies, voted in favor of Hope, for the picture. It’s so great to know that so many people are will-ing to support with a click

someone they do not know. People from different back-grounds, with different nationalities do it, when it comes to a good thing. This is encouraging and gives hope that humanity and helpfulness exists among us. Thank you all!I am also grateful to the EuroChem company for giving opportunities to help others with such pre-miums! There are certainly artistically better pictures than mine, but the experi-ence that so many people have been involved in this campaign to help some-one, that’s great – that makes my picture probably so special.”

Hope Nabukenya, a student from Uganda

Wilfried Werner, the photographer and social activist



sPorTs

1st International Ice Hockey Tournament:Where The Challenge Begins!JunIor ICE hoCkEy teams from Fin-land, Belgium and russia met at the international tournament, which was held in yubileiny Ice Arena in novo-moskovsk on march 30. the organ-izers of the competition received the symbolic relay puck from the Finnish city of Espoo where boys from kingi-sepp met on ice last year with their Finnish peers in a game held by Euro-Chem.

Not only present-day athletes supported the International Children’s Hockey Tour-nament. Legendary Soviet ice hockey play-ers Vladimir Petrov and Boris Mikhailov presented awards to the winners. EuroChem intends to make sports events on ice regular. An international competi-tion in St. Petersburg where young hock-ey players from the Leningrad Region will be competing with the Finnish team again is scheduled for this autumn.



MilesTone

Family Day at EuroChem AntwerpenthE LAst wEEkEnd of April was an important milestone for the employees of the Antwerp EuroChem plant.Last April, the EuroChem site in Antwerp celebrated its first an-niversary. To mark this special occasion, a team of employees organized a Family Day, which allowed the staff to bring their families to take a look behind the scenes of the Antwerp site. All important parts of the plant, such as the production units, the silos, the lab and the workspaces were accessible for the visitors. But, that wasn’t the only thing to do that day: there was also an exhibition, boat trips around the harbour, events for the children, theatre, shows by a Russian music band and of course, drinks and snacks. The sun was shining bright (which is not self-evident in Belgium!) and thus contributed to the atmo-sphere of the day: over 11�0 people visited the plant.



MilesTone

The Family Day turned out to be a very pleasant celebration for one year-old Eu-roChem Antwerp. Filip Dejongh, Managing Director of ECA, was very delighted by the anniversary weekend: “The enthusiasm of the organizing team made all of these fes-tivities possible. For me it was a pleasure to see the pride in the eyes of many EuroChem colleagues. In turn, that makes me proud to be part of this team. A team that has grown even stronger over the past year and the past weekend.”


Digest� June 2013№ 3

insPiraTion

EuroChem colleagues on a bicycle trip from Antwerp to Moscow

durIng EuroChEm Antwerp’s first anniversa-ry weekend last April, a team of employees of the Belgian plant made a rather unusual bicycle trip. As a tribute to their Russian parent company, they cycled from their home base in Antwerp to Moscow and back. The idea for this cycling tour came about in a rather special way.Doing this trip, the employees wanted to thank the EuroChem headquarters for donating new cycling outfits to all members of the bicycle team. In return for the new outfits, the colleagues promised to wear the outfits for the first time during a bicycle trip from Antwerp to Moscow. What they didn’t mention is that there is also a place called Moscow in Bel-gium…Twenty EuroChem colleagues started the �0 km journey from Antwerp to Moscow in the early hours of a sunny Saturday morning. In the return leg back to Antwerp, 40 employees in total participated. The bicycle tour thus wasn’t a 2500 km journey through Germany and Poland, but they did ride approximate-ly 1�0 kilometers in total along the river Scheldt, until they arrived safely back in Antwerp. The event was enclosed by a barbecue for all participants.


Digest10 June 2013№ 3

3 - eurochemvisit welcome to eurochem agro, mr. mayor! on january 21st, the mayor of the city of...

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